On Sat, Feb 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM Quentin Anciaux <[email protected]> wrote:
> Brent, > > You say the Born rule is justified empirically, which is true. But > empirical justification is not the same as theoretical derivation. If we > only appeal to empirical evidence, then we are just restating that the rule > works, not explaining why it follows from unitary evolution. > > The problem isn’t whether the Born rule is correct—it clearly is—but > whether its connection to amplitude can be derived within MWI rather than > imposed. Saying "probabilities are just what happens" is not an > explanation, it’s an assertion. > > You keep insisting that decoherence doesn’t justify why amplitudes should > determine observer frequency. But if amplitudes dictate the behavior of > quantum systems in all other cases, why would they suddenly stop mattering > when it comes to what observers experience? You haven’t answered > that—you’ve just stated that amplitudes don’t determine frequency without > justification. > > As for the "bush of worlds," decoherence doesn’t create separate worlds—it > describes why interference becomes negligible, leading to effectively > independent branches. The number of observer instances per branch is what’s > at stake. If amplitude plays no role in observer distribution, then why > does the Born rule hold? > > If you believe MWI cannot account for the Born rule, then you need a > reason why amplitudes should stop affecting probabilities at the moment of > measurement, despite governing quantum evolution everywhere else. > Otherwise, you’re just stating the rule rather than explaining it. > Maybe that is one of your fundamental mistakes: the idea that amplitudes affect quantum outcomes in all instances. That fact is that their only significance is in determining probabilities via the Born rule. They play no other role. This is easily proved by the examples I have given. Bruce -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAFxXSLRzKAgyCg3he3N-PP7EOMUd6Q8%2B6gmbCkzMbG7GbUDZCQ%40mail.gmail.com.
